Topics

Is the same Ilya Bryzgalov, who left a long trail of enemies in Phoenix and wore out his welcome so badly in Philadelphia they’re paying him $23 million to go away, starting to surface in Edmonton?

The goalie with the bad reputation has already been pulled aside by head coach Dallas Eakins and told to cool it with the tantrums. A few days later, he was caught on camera throwing up his arms and glaring at his defencemen after a breakdown led to a last-minute tying-goal in Phoenix.

Publicly showing up a teammate has always been a line in the ice that can never be crossed.

Eakins said he wiped the slate clean when Bryzgalov arrived in Edmonton and is sticking to that. A couple of incidents here doesn’t mean re-opening cases that have nothing to do with the Oilers. Still … he needs to cool it.

“If you’re doing it at one of your teammates, that’s not a very good thing to do, because sooner or later you’re going to make a mistake and I’m fairly certain you’re not going to want your teammates doing that to you,” said Eakins, who doesn’t want to assume Bryzgalov was pointing the finger at anyone.

“I spoke to him about a home game against Philly when he tossed his stick. He said his frustration was that he let in a goal he thought he should have had.

“My message to him is I don’t mind showing emotion, it’s great once or twice a year in an 82-game schedule where a goalie smashes his stick over the crossbar, let it loose.

“I’m fairly certain that Bryz was more frustrated with the situation, but you have to watch your body language on the ice.”

Bryzgalov was typically short and dismissive when asked about the Phoenix incident.

“I didn’t throw my arms,” he said. “No.”

It looked like it on TV. You’re saying it didn’t happen?

“I don’t remember.”

He has a long history of rubbing teammates the wrong way, though.

In November, former teammate Scottie Upshall, now a Florida Panther, told the Florida Sun-Sentinel “He did a few things that caused us to say something to him and put him in his place. (He called us out) in not a very professional way.”

In 2011, before a game with the Flyers, Coyotes defenceman Derek Morris levelled a similar blow: “I’m glad he’s gone … there was some animosity there with Bryz sometimes.”

In Philadelphia, veteran hockey writer Tim Panaccio wrote that a “Flyers leadership group” met with Bryzgalov to talk to him about being a better teammate.

Is the same Ilya Bryzgalov, who left a long trail of enemies in Phoenix and wore out his welcome so badly in Philadelphia they’re paying him $23 million to go away, starting to surface in Edmonton?

The goalie with the bad reputation has already been pulled aside by head coach Dallas Eakins and told to cool it with the tantrums. A few days later, he was caught on camera throwing up his arms and glaring at his defencemen after a breakdown led to a last-minute tying-goal in Phoenix.

Publicly showing up a teammate has always been a line in the ice that can never be crossed.

Eakins said he wiped the slate clean when Bryzgalov arrived in Edmonton and is sticking to that. A couple of incidents here doesn’t mean re-opening cases that have nothing to do with the Oilers. Still … he needs to cool it.

“If you’re doing it at one of your teammates, that’s not a very good thing to do, because sooner or later you’re going to make a mistake and I